The Third World Way

Francis X. Rocca

It can't be pleasing to progressive Anglicans and Catholics.

Last month the Anglican diocese of New Westminster, Canada, approved the blessing of same sex unions; and the following week a priest performed the first such ceremony in Vancouver. This month the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire elected the first openly homosexual bishop in the worldwide Anglican communion; and a British newspaper reported that the most recently appointed Anglican bishop "had been in a gay relationship for decades."

Roman Catholics who favor a more liberal policy on homosexuality and sexuality in general can be forgiven if they draw hope from these events as harbingers of change in their own, much larger church. But the controversy that these changes have provoked suggests instead that world Christianity, Catholic and Anglican traditions included, is actually growing more conservative.

Following the authorization of same-sex unions, 13 Anglican provinces (or national churches) declared themselves to be in "impaired communion" with the Diocese of Westminster. They were Nigeria, the West Indies, the Southern Cone of South America, Central Africa, Kenya, India, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Uganda, West Africa, the Indian Ocean, Congo and Sudan. Please note, if you haven't already, that all of these churches are in the so-called Third World.